Tuesday, May 24, 2005

What do Democrats stand for?

A day after defending Christians, like myself, who vote for Democratic candidates, there is news that Democrats have brokered some sort of deal with Republicans to avoid the nuclear option. That leads me to question...what do Democrats stand for?

I heard it a lot from my church-going friends during the 2004 election, "I may not like Bush or his policies, but at least I know where he stands." That confused me greatly. How could you vote for a guy you didn't like? Why support someone whose policies you didn't agree with? Yet, now I see there is some logic in it because I don't know where my own party stands anymore.

Democrats today allowed votes (and almost certain confirmation) on 3 judges that only 72 hours before we so radical that Dems were willing to go to great lengths to block them. So compromise and giving in win out over principles. Instead queasiness about showing to what lengths Dobson et al will go to grab power won out over a stand on solid Democratic principles.

The Democratic Party used to stand for Justice, Interdependence and Freedoms. Now it stands for what exactly? America and the world work best when we expand justice, interdependence and freedoms. Since Republicans spit in the face of those three ideals and Dems don't have the courage to stand up for them, where should I put my political allegiance?

What say you my faithful readers?

Added after I surfed the news websites fully..."Mr Brown said Mr Blair want to bring all the richest countries together "so that we have a plan that could mean that by 2015 we have halved poverty". Can I just vote Labour in US elections?

Looks like I'm not the only one wondering what happened in the Senate. According to AgapePress, Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family is blasting the Senate deal, calling it a "complete betrayal." "The rules that blocked conservative nominees remain in effect, and nothing of significance has changed. The unconstitutional filibuster survives in the arsenal of Senate liberals."

"I think it's very sad and very, very disappointing," Gary Bauer of American Values says of the arrangement. "The number-one principle here is that every judicial nominee deserves an up-or-down vote -- and because of these senators who got all weak in the knees, that principle for now has been lost."